1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing system, and more particularly to a product manufacturing system capable of simultaneously manufacturing a variety of products.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Industrial products such as microwave ovens, refrigerators, and other similar appliances are generally manufactured on a linear conveyer system.
On the linear conveyer system, the components are supplied onto a moving conveyer according to the assembly order and then assembled in order until a complete product is produced at the final section of the conveyer.
In such a linear conveyer system, since the method for assembling and treating the product is minutely divided, one kind of product can be efficiently manufactured by skilled workers.
However, such a conventional linear conveyer system has a shortcoming that only one kind of product can be manufactured with one manufacturing system. Accordingly, in order to manufacture many kinds of products, additional assembly lines should be installed, or the manufacturing system itself has to be varied according to the product it manufactures. Consequently, a lot of money and time are wasted on the equipment and its installation operation, so manufacturing productivity is low in comparison with the investment thereto. Moreover, when the equipment is changed, it cannot manufacture the product that has been produced before, so the flexibility in producing products decreases and it is hard to meet the variation of the required amount of the products.
The object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing system capable of manufacturing a variety of products simultaneously.
To achieve the above object, the manufacturing system of the present invention comprises a plurality of cell conveyers being supplied with a variety of pallets and products through an input section thereof, the conveyer on which the products are firstly assembled; a main conveyer whereto the firstly assembled products are conveyed from the cell conveyers in a state that the firstly assembled products are loaded on the pallet, the main conveyer on which the products are finally assembled; and a return conveyer for returning the pallets to the input section of the cell conveyers after assembly process of the product is completed on the main conveyer.
The pallets are supplied into the input section of the cell conveyers and then returned to the input section of the cell conveyers through the main conveyer and the return conveyer, the variety of products are firstly assembled on the cell conveyers respectively and then conveyed to the main conveyer to be finally assembled, and variety of products are output through an output section of the main conveyer.
Between an output section of the return conveyer and input section of the cell conveyers, a plurality of pallet input devices is disposed. The pallet input devices comprises a first unit conveyer elevatably installed at the output section of the return conveyer, the first unit conveyer for elevating the outputted pallet from the returning conveyer upwardly; a second unit conveyer simultaneously elevated with the first unit conveyer, the second unit conveyer for receiving the pallet elevated by the first unit conveyer therefrom; and a pallet supply conveyer elevatably installed between a lower portion of the second unit conveyer and a front section of the cell conveyers, the pallet supply conveyer for supplying the pallet conveyed to the second unit conveyer to the input section of the cell conveyers.
Between the output section of the cell conveyers and input section of the main conveyer, a plurality of pallet carriers are disposed. The pallet carriers comprises a third unit conveyer moving in an orthogonal direction with respect to a moving direction of the cell conveyers and elevatably installed at the output section of the cell conveyers, the third unit conveyer for elevating the pallet output therefrom; and a fourth unit conveyer moving in a same direction with the third unit conveyer and elevatably installed at the input section of the main conveyer, the fourth unit conveyer for supplying the pallet to the input section of the main conveyer by receiving and de-elevating the pallet elevated by the third unit conveyer.
Here, each of the unit conveyers is elevated by an actuator installed at a lower portion thereof.
Moreover, a reversing apparatus for arranging the product on the pallet conveyed along the main conveyer by reversing the pallet conveyed from one of the cell conveyers is installed at a rear section of the pallet carrier which conveys the pallet from one of the cell conveyers to the main conveyer. The reversing apparatus comprises a reversing table whereon the pallet is positioned; an actuator for elevating the reversing table over the main conveyer; and a rotary actuator for reversing the reversing table elevated by the actuator by 180xc2x0.
Furthermore, between the main conveyer and the returning conveyer a pallet returning conveyer is installed. The pallet returning conveyer is selectively connected with a pallet output section of the main conveyer and an input section of the return conveyer by pivoting thereof so as to return the pallet output from the pallet output section of the main conveyer to an input section of the returning conveyer.
As constructed as above, the manufacturing system according to the present invention allows a variety of products to be manufactured by employing each cell conveyer therefor. And on the main conveyer, the completely assembled products are tested for durability, then packaged, and shipped. Accordingly, a variety of products can be manufactured with only one manufacturing system.